Aevum - A VRMMO LitRPG Story Chapter 4: Chapter 4

Read chapter 4 of Aevum - A VRMMO LitRPG Story by Purg on NovelPedia.

Chapter 4 We managed to get back onto the proper road before the sun fully set. The road did have some lantern posts every fifty or so feet, probably so that in a snow storm travelers could see which direction the path was going in. Lyla inspected one and her theory is that there was some enchantment on them that let them burn for a long time, as it would be pretty crazy having to relight them every night. It was officially night by the time we reached the gates of Brackenhold. Lyla was pretty much in awe of the city, which is probably how I looked when I first saw it too. I showed the guard my token, and they asked Lyla the same thing they asked me. After a small conversation, Lyla was granted entry and given a token like mine. I explained to her what I learned of the city as we walked towards the Snow Tide inn, the darkness of night illuminated by this pocket of civilization. The clouds hadn’t really cleared up at all, but you could see a faint glow behind them from what I assumed to be a moon. Lyla would make comments sometimes about how cozy it felt and would stop to look inside the windows of shops that were still open, which slowed us down a bit but I didn’t mind. It was nice to see someone so happy and exploring something new. After a little while of meandering through the city we finally made it to the inn. The lights were on and Evelyn was now walking about the main hall, wiping tables and cleaning up as the day wound down. She smiled and said hello once she saw us, and went to put the dirty dishes she had collected away before she came to speak with us. She returned shortly after and spoke, “So Arty, did you manage alright helping Kyle? And who’s your new friend?” I answered the second question first, “This is Lyla, I met her while I was gathering herbs and things for Kyle. Lyla, this is the owner of the inn, Evelyn,” gesturing to each of them, “Lyla had a bit of trouble with some. . . what were they called again?” “Proteli, I think,” Lyla chimed in at this point, moving her cloak to show Evelyn the tears and stains of blood on it. “They did a real number on me, at least until Arty came to help,” Seeing the ripped clothes Evelyn made a light gasp, “Oh no, that must have been awfully scary. How about this, if you want to stay here tonight I have some extra clothes you can use, and by tomorrow morning I can have those cleaned and patched up for you. Sound good?” “That would be great! Thanks.” Lyla responded. They both began talking about the prices for stay, similar to my first conversation with Evelyn. Lyla ended up deciding to pay for a week-long stay, same as me. Evelyn wouldn’t accept payment for cleaning and fixing Lyla’s cloak and other armor, which was pretty nice of her. After getting everything sorted, Lyla went off to her room after saying good night. Evelyn then approached me as I was about to head out to the apothecary to complete my quest. “Arty, where did you find Lyla when she was being attacked by the proteli?” I had to think for a minute and retrace my steps, but I was able to give her a general area of where I remembered it being. It wasn’t very far off the trail, but it was still about two hours away from the city. She looked a bit concerned at that information. “Proteli are not supposed to be that close to the city, they usually stick to the open snow plains in the valleys, and sometimes will come up into the forests, but even still that would be an eight to ten hour trip away from the city,” she said, seemingly worried, “While they do get a bit bolder in packs, it’s pretty rare for them to attack people. They tend to scavenge for food, and occasionally hunt their own, but it’s usually smaller or similar sized creatures.” “So what does it mean? You think there’s something causing them to behave like this?” She thinks for a moment, “I’m not sure. Whatever the case, it’s not normal. It would be dangerous for you to go that far from the city again on your own. I’ll talk to a friend in the garrison in t